eurotraveller

I am a jewelry designer and I will be traveling to Thailand next year. I am planning on purchasing some silver to work into my creations.

Where is the best place to buy silver? Is it available in the markets? Is there a certain Hill Tribe that I could visit and purchase it directly from the locals?

Thanks!

eurotraveller

I sent this a few months ago but unfortunately, I received no advice.


Now that I am getting closer to the month I leave I am going to try again.

I am looking to purchase a few hundred dollars worth, possibly more, of hill tribe silver to incorporate into my jewelry designs.

I will be in both Chiang Mai and Bangkok on this trip.

can anyone recommend a wholesale hill tribe silver supplier that I can get in contact with before I depart from the states? I would love to be able to specify some styles that I am interested in.

Thanks!

glorialf

I think your best bet is in Chiang mai. I've bought a lot of hilltribe silver but to wear --not to use or sell.

kaiwahine

Eurotraveller, you might try to email someone from Thai Tribal Crafts, they might be able to give you the info you seek. They are tribal owned-into promoting crafts from the villages in Northern Thailand, including silver work.
[email protected]
www.ttcrafts.co.th/
Good luck

bardian83

I will be in Chaing Mai around Jan 10 and would also like to buy bulk Hill Tribe silver beads directly from a crafter or as close as I can get to the source. Is there anyone out there who knows of a specific location or person to go to? Eurotraveller, did you find out anything? When will you be in Chiang Mai?
Thanks!!

kathrynj

eurotraveler/bardian83, I am also looking to buy silver beads there for jewelry making and have done a little research on google. Also seems like beads are sold at the night market. I went to Karkow/Prague looking for beads and did end up finding a lot at the markets. Please do let me know if you find anything out---will be in Chiang Mai Jan 7-11.......

eurotraveller

Kathryn and bardian, I haven't found out much at this point.

I will be there in feb. so I will report back about my findings.

Cheers!

bardian83

I will be there around January 8 or so (not sure of exact itinerary). Must be a popular destination for fanatical beaders!

hawaiiantraveler

kathry & euro:
you will both be there before we go to northern Thailand...please give us a report on what you find out as we will be there in march 06 right after you
Aloha!

eurotraveller

Will do hawaiiantraveler!

I even emailed Baan Orapin to see if the owner might have a connection but they couldn't help me.

I will check with Chiang Dao Nest to see if they might be able to suggest someone.

Cheers!

pat

eurotraveller. Glad to hear from you. We seen to be running in the same circles. Your trip report on Croatia helped us out, and now I`m following you to Thailand! Please post a trip report when you do get back. I wore gold my whole life, and now, suddenly, I have switched to silver!

kathrynj

Hi all, I printed out a bunch of stuff on beads with a couple possible places and will definitely report back where I find the beads in Chiang Mai....Kathy

eurotraveller

Hi Pat! Did you enjoy Croatia as much as I did? When were you there and when are you going to Thailand? Nice to see someone else over here from the Euro board!

If you like silver you might want to take a look at my online photo album with some of the pieces I create. You can check it out at:

www.windjammer.smugmug.com

I also have photos of the trips I have taken since I got my digital camera, including Turkey and Croatia.

Cheers!

bardian83

Kathryn - What info HAVE you found? We're leaving here (Ohio) on the 5th, so I'd love any additional info you could share!

pat

eurotraveller, Yes I loved Croatia. But was surprised at how crowded it was. The word is definitely out! Plitvice Park was just jam packed. It was pouring rain, and people had their umbrellas up in a solid line, everywhere we looked. I expected Dubrovnik to be crowded but not Plitvice. I read somewhere that the price of the Villa Adriatica has doubled.We were there in Sept 2005. We will try for Thailand in Nov 2006, so have a lot of studying to do.